Tighter security as Wall Street goes to work

Homeland security: five targets studied by terrorists

By

DavidWeidner

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Employees at some of the nation's leading financial institutions, singled out by terrorists as potential targets in threats disclosed over the weekend, headed back to work Monday under tightened security.

At the New York Stock Exchange, where security has been at a high level in the three years since Sept. 11, NYSE Chief Executive John Thain and Sen. Charles Schumer greeted employees as they arrived for work.

"We're here to show solidarity with the people of the New York Stock Exchange," said Schumer, D-N.Y. "The terrorists want to scare us. If every time they make a threat, we stop doing what we're doing, they win."

As has been the practice at the exchange since 2001, employees passed through multiple checkpoints where their identification was checked and passed through metal and explosive detectors. Visitors to the building are photographed. About 1,500 employees work at 11 Wall St.

Thain said he spoke with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during the weekend. Though there is a greater police presence, the NYSE's security level is already high and the building "fundamentally" safe, Thain said.

A Citigroup
C, +0.71%
spokeswoman early Monday declined to comment on whether there were an unusual number of people not showing up for work. Workers who did come in were, however, delayed by searches.

At 59 floors, the Citigroup Center in midtown Manhattan is the biggest of three New York buildings cited by Homeland Security. Citigroup officials declined to say how many people work in the complex.

The headquarters of Newark, N.J.-based Prudential Financial
PRU, +0.14%
also was identified as a target. About 1,000 workers are employed at the location, most of whom arrived at work Monday to find an increased police presence.

A Prudential spokesman said the insurer was working with state, local and federal officials.

Also early Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, speaking on CNBC Television, urged Wall Street workers to go to work as usual.

Bill Cline, managing partner for global capital markets at Accenture, said the financial industry, since Sept. 11, has improved on an already good record of security.

"It's been pretty clear for a while that the financial system in the U.S. would be a target," he said. "There's even greater security. I think that's clear to anyone who has been to the NYSE lately."

Futures fallout in Chicago

While the Chicago Board of Trade was not mentioned, armed security guards patrolled the leading futures exchange on Jackson Boulevard. However, traders were nonchalant.

"I've been through the crash of '87, through 9/11 and I have five children," said Mike Tolard, who spoke from the trading floor. "Not much scares me anymore."

Still, security concerns were weighing on the market Monday, Tolard said. "Lots of people are short. The perception is that something is going to happen," he said.

Another trader said she was taking security concerns very seriously and was trading conservatively. A third trader said he had gas masks in his office.

But most downplayed fears. "You can't sit and worry that something is going to happen," said William Bailen.

'Iconic' targets

On Sunday, Ridge revealed evidence of possible al-Qaida attacks against five key financial-sector buildings, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, as well as the three New York area financial locations.

"Iconic economic targets are at the heart of their interest," Ridge told a news conference at the Department of Homeland Security. See full story.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior administration official said the terrorist organizations had studied the buildings' structure, how traffic -- both pedestrian and vehicular -- moved through the areas in question, and potential escape routes.

"The new information is chilling in its scope, in its detail, in its breadth," the official said. "It also gives one a sense the same feeling one would have if one found out that somebody broke into your house and over the past several months was taking a lot of details about your place of residence and looking for ways to attack you."

Bloomberg said Sunday the city would "deploy its full array" of counterterrorism methods but didn't say he was raising the terror alert status to red, indicating the highest level.

In written statements Sunday, both the NYSE and Citigroup said they would be taking appropriate measures to counter the threats.

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